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Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android

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851–860 of 902 posts

Re: Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android

#851

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty sure almost everyone sending messages from an iPhone to another is using it.

Even iPhone users in Europe tend to just use WhatsApp. It's the default there, largely because of the history of carriers charging thru the nose for SMS back in the day...when WhatsApp offered "free" messaging (uses tiny amounts of your data plan), it took off.

Doesn't iMessage predate WhatsApp for sending data based messages? I recall that being an early selling point.

Re: Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android

#852
post #12

Really happy to see that original customers are getting this included as well. I was worried that this was a ploy to say "we know we said you all would be grandfathered in, but that was for _Beeper Cloud_, our old legacy one. This new one is a monthly charge". Thanks for being great, @erohead

That's one view. As a non Android user who enjoys unified messaging, I suspect this is the beginning of the end for the matrix driven client and whilst the grandfathering is nice, it does nothing for me and my Beepy.

Re: Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android

#853

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about not being in a walled garden and actually having access to your device?

Yeah, I hear Android manufacturers and app developers are very encouraging of unlocked bootloaders and user root access. It's not 2008 anymore, we're all in walled gardens now.

Many people still buy Androids exactly because you can still flash different roms.

Re: Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android

#854
post #838

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iMessage is not DRM. It is not protecting IP.

The component that tries to identify that you're accessing it from the right device isn't DRM? I don't think courts would agree with that.

It's not done for the purposes of content protection/DRM. There may be other laws it falls under, but I don't think the DMCA is one.

Re: Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android

#855
Could you guys please explain why Telegram sent me this: " Data export request. (censored), we received a request from your account to export your Telegram data.

Device: Beeper, 0.15.0, Beeper bridge server, Web, 1.33.0a1 Location: Germany (IP = 178.63.65.55)

For security reasons, please confirm this request by pressing the Allow button at the bottom of this message using one of your mobile devices."

Re: Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android

#856

I just downloaded it, and can't get past the landing/sign-in page: "Google sign in error.null" Unfortunately, signing in with Google is the only option.

Same as above. Pixel 5, running Android 14. (Edit: the help link provided did not help, as the toggle was already on)

Was able to fix. I have 6+ Google accounts, and one of the accounts didn't have it checked, so it needs to be all, instead of just the account you're looking to connect.

Re: Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android

#857
post #57

Great job! Just from taking a quick look at this, what you have here is much bigger than iMessage itself. This could literally allow things like Universal Clipboard to work on Linux and Windows - by using the method presented here to access the iCloud Keychain and generating Continuity keys and placing them there - then the iPhone will broadcast its clipboard data encrypted with those keys via BLE. If I understand al…

Would like to try it out but the developer decided to force sign-in with google and I have removed that from my AOSP build.

Re: Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android

#859

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know what you mean by “common good” in this context, but if a company has a dominant market position and uses its power to cripple competition, then it falls within antitrust laws. iMessage is so important today, especially to young Americans, that its exclusivity to iOS has become a significant barrier to Android or other operating systems from being competitive. It’s up to regulators and the court system to…

Apple does not require any consumer to use iMessage, nor do they make installing alternatives such as Whatsapp difficult. iMessage is simply a messaging option. This is in stark contrast to how MS treated IE back in the antitrust lawsuit days. The fact that lots of people prefer to use iMessage -- despite myriad easily-accessible alternatives -- doesn't feel anticompetitive in the slightest; in fact making a product…

The Messages app is the only one everybody has no choice but to use though, since it’s the only one on iOS that does actual SMS, which is needed for interacting with businesses and in other scenarios. It’s also the most discoverable one and the only one that comes on the phone by default. It has a privileged place in the ecosystem, and that’s why it’s a potential target for antitrust regulation.

Re: Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android

#860
post #662
post #661

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was tried by apple. https://www.engadget.com/apple-drops-its-lawsuit-against-a-m...

Emulation software isn’t wholly original as it needs firmware and software from the device so emulated. An iPhone emulator with no bootrom and no iOS isn’t very useful. An open source client for an API need not include any non-original works.

What are the potential legal and ethical ramifications for developers and users in using such emulation methods or accessing private APIs?
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